Ties and Bonds
by icy sweet candy
Summary: Why do you always wear that'   'this? It's special to me...'
1. Necklace

"Why do you always wear that?" Shishido asked curiously, pointing to the necklace Choutaro was wearing.

"Ah…this? It's…special to me…" Choutaro replied while playing with the cross pendant. "It was given to me by my best friend…"

"Aahh…who? The one whom I always see with you?" Shishido asked, interested.

"Iie…she already passed away…" Choutaro replied, a hurt smile on his face. "At least that's what I've heard, but I don't believe it…" Choutaro trailed. "I feel like she's just here so I always wear this, just in case she can't recognize me anymore. At least I hope she would recognize this necklace." Choutaro sighed. "I will only remove this only if I see her again or…if I can finally accept that she's gone…just like what they all say…" Shishido just nodded.

"Minna! 20 laps around the court for warm-up!" Atobe called.

…oOo…

Shishido sighed. He has been thinking about that conversation he had with Choutaro. Somehow he found it interesting; he never thought that a very cheerful person like him was carrying a big burden with him. For some reason, Choutaro's sad face kept on replaying on his mind like a broken record. He can't help but be worried about his kouhai. He never saw that extreme emotion before not even the instance when they spent too much time perfecting his scud serve, not even after those failures. Somehow though, those times were different than this. Shishido sighed again. He shouldn't even have opened that topic in the first place anyway. Who was he anyway? Just a senpai.

'A bad senpai…' Shishido thought.

Choutaro had been a good kouhai ever since. He was even willing to give up his spot just for his Shishido-san. But what did Shishido do to return that? Nothing. Well maybe except for the extra effort to help him with his scud serve. But then again, that was different. It was for the benefit of the team not just for Choutaro.

'I know I'll help him look for his best friend.' Shishido thought, though he's never gonna say a thing about it. Of course he had a reputation to protect. He didn't want other people to ever see this sweet side of him. Maybe that's why he was known as the cold and the most distant in the whole of the tennis club.

Shishido looked at the clock. Damn, he was dozing off again. 'That was already the fourth time this week!' Shishido thought. 'Oh shit! My homework!'

…oOo…

"Achoo!" Choutaro sneezed as he rubbed his nose. 'Seems like I have a cold.' Choutaro thought. He went to his dresser to change his clothes but stopped as he saw his reflection on the mirror. He looked at himself but what caught his attention is the black lace around his neck. 'Sho-chan, where are you?' Choutaro thought as he mindlessly played with the pendant. Suddenly Choutaro remembered how his senpai's face became worried and bothered. Well it really doesn't show that much but CHoutaro knew that it was what it meant. They weren't partners for nothing after all. 'Oh no, I worried Shishido-san more, I know he's already stressed, being a graduating high school student and I just have to bug him with my own depression.' Choutaro thought. 'I know, I'll help him in doing his homework tomorrow, and maybe the day after that, and the day after that…." Choutaro thought being as sweet and caring as ever. 'and I'll bring a cake! I know he likes it he just didn't want people to know he liked sweets.' Choutaro smiled.


	2. Memories

_Shishido was playing in the park when his mother called him._

"_Ryou-chan, can you come here for a second?"_

"_Yes Mommy!" the little Shishido replied cheerfully while walking to his mother._

"_Ryou, I want you to meet Sho-chan." His mother said while pointing to no one in particular._

"_Uhmm…Mom…who exactly is Sho-chan?" Shishido asked confused while looking for the said girl. His mom looked at her side then smiled._

"_Sho-chan…" Shishido tilted his head curiously as a chubby little girl in pigtails came out from hiding behind his mother's legs. The girl looked at him curiously but said nothing._

"_Hello Sho-chan!" Shishido greeted the girl who was still sucking her thumb._

"_H..hello…" she replied in a cute way making Shishido smile._

"_Do you want to play?" Shishido asked the girl at least a year or two years younger than him. Sho just stood still but said nothing._

"_Come on Sho, baby. I'm sure onii-chan here will take care of you, right?" Sho's mom asked Ryou who just smiled and nodded._

"_Alright!" Sho smiled and became energized as if the assurance of his mom is what she needs to lighten up. Shishido then held Sho by her wrist and ran to the swings._

"_Do you want me to push you?" Shishido asked making Sho's eyes lit up._

"_Really? Okay!" she replied childishly._

"_Hey look! That little girl is so ugly and fat!" a guy not far from them insulted. "Hey little kid! Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be in a zoo?" another mean guy added while laughing boisterously. Sho felt her tears cornering her eyes then ran away. "Aww…the little baby is going back to her mom…" a guy with a cap mocked her more. _

"_What do you want?!" Shishido asked anger present in his voice._

"_Oh the little kid's boyfriend is on the rescue!" the biggest and the toughest looking guy in the gang mocked._

"_Back off!" Shishido threatened his eyes full of fury. The guy got pissed and took Shishido by his collar lifting him off the ground. "What did you say?!" _

"_I said, Back off!" Shishido shouted making the guy flinch a little. "Whoa! That's a liitle harsh for you little fella." The guy said loosening his grip. "We'll let you go just this once, but don't think you've seen the last of us" the guy threatened as the group walked away. Shishido just disregarded them and went to look for Sho. Shishido found her under a tree and saw that she still has her head down and still crying._

"_Don't worry it's okay now, they just don't have nothing better else to do." Shishido said as he approached Sho. She looked up to him, teary-eyed and asked, "Am I ugly?" _

"_No, you're actually cute…" Shishido said smiling. _

"_Onii-chan…" Sho murmured as a few more moments of sobbing passed. Shishido was silenced for a moment then smiled. He actually liked the idea of being an older brother._

"_Can I call you onii-chan?" Sho asked sincerely as a genuine smile formed on her lips._

"_Sure"_

…oOo…

_Briing…riiing…_

Shishido went out of his classroom and was greeted by students rushing to go home or to go after school activities. Shishido found himself going to the club's office instead of the tennis courts.

_Knock. Knock._

"Aah…Shishido-san, what brings you here?" their coach asked.

"Excuse me sensei but can I be excused from today's practice?" Shishido asked.

"Ask permission form Atobe. If he permits, you may go." Sakkako-sensei said.

"Arigato"

"Aah"

…oOo…

"Why?" Atobe asked authoritatively. Shishido went silent for a moment before he sighed. "I need to pay respects" he said sadly. Atobe, sensing his tone of voice allowed him. "You may go" Atobe said. Shishido waled out of sight quietly, his mind obviously occupied with something.

As he was on his way to the cemetery, he took out a picture from his pocket and stared at it intently, tears slowly stinging his eyes. Moments later he reached the grave and knelt down then solemnly prayed. He stared at the grave for a while before deciding to leave and left a letter on the place. A gust of wind made the letter visible, in it says, _"Happy birthday Sho…and I'm really, really sorry…I hope you can forgive me…"_


End file.
